State Antifeminism in Brazil

the Ministry of Education during Bolsonaro's first year in office (2019)

Abstract

This article examines how antifeminism influenced Brazilian politics during Jair Bolsonaro's government, specifically through the actions of the Ministry of Education (MEC) throughout 2019. The aim is to reflect on the implementation of an antifeminist state project in the educational field by Bolsonaro. It is argued that antifeminism, as a global phenomenon, played a crucial role in the 2018 presidential election and in shaping the subsequent governmental agenda. It is emphasized that, starting in 2019, antifeminist actors assumed central positions within the MEC; the Secretariat for Continuing Education, Literacy, and Diversity (Secadi) was abolished without the transfer of the vast majority of its responsibilities, leading to the interruption of educational policies with a gender perspective; and the political agenda of the School Without Party Movement (MESP) was adopted, albeit not entirely explicitly. The conclusion is that it is possible to speak of state antifeminism during the Bolsonaro government, which constituted a manifestation of backlash and functioned as a political strategy.